He never expressed regrets for his collaboration with Vesna Tenodi, but did express his fears of the thugs who kept threatening to destroy his livelihood. To Vesna and the police officers who tried to stop the thugs Goomblar said: “These people will destroy us both!”

And he was right. ModroGorje gallery and the ‘Wanjina Watchers in the Whispering Stone’ sculpture were repeatedly vandalized and the owners Vesna and Damir Tenodi repeatedly abused. In the end, the owners abandoned their attempts to reason with the hysterical objectors, moved their art to Europe and returned to their Sydney home. Goomblar too was savagely attacked by the same objectors, and also run out of the Blue Mountains. He now lives in Queensland.

More of Goomblar’s commentaries are included in ‘Dreamtime Set in Sand – more Truth about Australian Aborigines, as requested by the Those-Who-Know’, Part 2 of the Dreamtime trilogy.

Artist’s Statement

Just tell the truth

…Another thing that bothers me is all those lies. My people – or I shouldn’t say ‘my people’, that would upset them too – you see, they get upset over anything, but they have lost connection with their own tribe’s tradition. Every tribe had its own customs, its own protocol, but most of that has been forgotten, the magic is lost. But if you ask them about it, they’d rather pretend it’s some deep secret, which they cannot tell you; you are not ‘initiated’, as if there is some deep wisdom they cannot share with an outsider. Like every person has their own ‘dream’ which must not be shared. That’s like if you said that the signs of the Zodiac are something deeply spiritual not to be shared with anyone, like if you are a Taurus, or a Leo, or a Sag, and say ohhuuuhuhuuu, that’s my dreaming, cannot tell you. Or in the Christian tradition, I know because I am a Christian myself, my Christian name is Paul James, and as Christian children are often given the name of a patron saint, to think of or pray to as their protector or a guide, that’s similar, an Aboriginal kid is given a totem, a turtle or a lizard or a kangaroo to think of to develop their imagination and intuitive side.

I often argue with my mob. To my kids I say if you want to be a good person, be responsible, get education, stop waiting for someone to organise your life for you, sit up and pay attention, take initiative, work, then you’ll get respect.

It used to be only black people and white people, who didn’t want to know about each other. But now we have so many different cultures here. The first thing for every culture would be to fix themselves up and then connect with others, rather than each one carrying on about their own problems.

But some things never change. The labels change, things stay the same.

With your book, you want to help. Well, what’s been hurting us most is that the truth was untold for so long. What can you do? How can you help? Just tell the truth.